What is the meaning of that weird symbol on the front of the altar?

As part of the renovation, the altar was slightly reduced in size so it would take up less space in our rather confined sanctuary area.  The symbols were originally made of wood but were refashioned into brass and re-attached to the altar.  What do these symbols stand for?  Many have dubbed the center one a “dollar sign,” but the symbols on our restored altar have a much loftier significance! At left and right, of course, are the letters for “alpha” and “omega” – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  These refer to the passage in Revelation 22:13 declaring Christ as “the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” But in the center of the altar we have the Latin letters “H” and “S” superimposed over a cross.  These represent the monogram (or Christogram) “IHS” often found in church symbolism.  The letters “IHS” form an abbreviation of the first three letters of the name “Jesus” in Greek: Iota (I), Eta (H capitalized), Sigma (S). 

The craftsman who recently worked on the altar noticed a signature on the inside, along with the date “1892,” the year St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church was dedicated.  Perhaps not surprisingly for 19th Century mountain churches in Colorado, the altar at Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown (built 20 years earlier in 1872) is remarkably similar. We have yet to verify whether the same carpenter created both altars!